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Inherently wrong, well, these aren't my words. A large thinning operation will certainly improve performance drastically. Even then, I believe you have the best results and keep the high level of performance by starting any sharpening job by thinning a little behind the edge.

You're welcome, hope it helps. When you want to restore performance with a knife, you can't just restore the very edge. You have to restore the previous geometry, The entire configuration is moved a little upwards. And there comes the taper. Especially jig users are so focused on their edge they tend to overlook this aspect.

Does anyone know if the Hiromoto TJ Santoku have the same blade thickness problem?

I wouldn't exactly consider this a "problem" for most users. Compared to the vast majority of western style knives being used in restaurants and houses everywhere, the Hiro's are superior cutters with better steel and geometry.
It's only when put in the context of a handful of "better" knives, and very discerning users (like many forum members here) that they can begin to be called thick. If your frame of reference is a Wushof, or Forschner, or even a Mac, I'd say you would be impressed by a Hiromoto, and rightfully so.
Can the cutting abilty be improved by thinning the blade, certainly. But be aware that thinner isnt always better and thinning comes with a compromise of edge durability and may not be to everyone's benefit depending on your technique and preferences.

[QUOTE=Chefdog;173313]I wouldn't exactly consider this a "problem" for most users. Compared to the vast majority of western style knives being used in restaurants and houses everywhere, the Hiro's are superior cutters with better steel and geometry.

Point taken, thanks Chefdog, but I'd still like to know if anyone has experience with both the Hiromoto TJ santoku and the gyuto in terms of their comparable thicknesses.

I, for one, used a Hiro AS for a while. I'd read that fit and finish is an issue on these but mine had no such issue. What I did find is the AS steel doesn't hold an edge like other examples I've used (Takeda, Zakuri, Moritaka) and while it isn't a terrible cutter, I found its cutting performance to be mediocre relative to other Japanese knives of which I've tried out something like a hundred different lines/makes by now. It's a very good knife but amongst Japanese knives, I would rate it fairly average in its price range.